The Messianic Secret

Jesus' insistence on keeping His deeds quiet in Mark's Gospel nags at us a bit. If He were whom He claimed to be, then what's with this hush-hush business?

Several times, Mark's Gospel records that Jesus didn't let the demons speak because they knew who He was (1:34), that the healed leper was not supposed to reveal Jesus' healing but only show himself to the priest and make the offering for his cleansing (1:44), that His identity wasn't to be shared by others that were healed (3:12), that no one should know about His raising the girl (5:43), that the healing of the deaf man wasn't to be shared (7:36) and that blind man of Bethsaida wasn't to even enter the village (8:22-26). Even after Peter's grand confession, Jesus insisted that they keep the proclamation – that He is/was the Christ (Messiah) – a “secret” (8:30).

Why was Jesus so keen on keeping this a secret?

Mark's Gospel never comes out explicitly and tells us why, but while several have offered attempts at solutions to the “problem,” I'd like to propose a few things – influenced by some like Richard Hays and Henry Barclay Swete – that come together to form something of an answer . . .

First, Mark's Gospel explicitly brings out, at “the transfiguration,” that Jesus gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, until the “Son of Man” rose from the dead (Mark 9:9). It's probably true that “the transfiguration,” then, comes to stand as a “prefiguration” of the resurrection of Jesus Christ (cf. 2 Pet. 1:16-18). Do you think that Peter, James and John were able to get a glimpse of what Jesus Christ, in resurrected glory, might appear as?

Second, Mark 9:9 insists, then, that the “secret” was not to remain a “secret” eternally, but rather, it was a “secret” that needed to be revealed but only at the perfectly appropriate time. (See also John 7:6 on the time's needing to be “ripe.”) It wasn't as much a “secret,” then – in some kind of suspicious way (the point of John 18:20, I'm sure) – but a “hidden” fact that needed to be revealed. (Do see Mark 4:22 for the purpose of the parables, which is followed with, “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear,” which beckons Mark's readers to be attentive. Does this elevate our “paying attention” to the claims and things of Christ in Mark's Gospel? It should.)

Third, Mark is probably insisting that we pay attention to Jesus' claims and actions “along the way” in His Gospel. This, particularly, should force us to look closely for Old Testament “fulfillments” and other groundbreaking claims. Richard Hays excellently insists that we should discern Mark's (and the other evangelists') “allusions” and “echoes,” discerning, as attentive readers should (Mark 4:23), what connections are being made between Jesus' identity and the Old Testament's anticipation.

Finally, we should keep “the resurrection” in view. Do read John 2:18-23 and John 12:16. Don't those texts say that “the resurrection” was a hermeneutical key that reshaped the understanding of the disciples? Didn't it force them to hear Jesus' own words again in new and more powerful and transformative ways? Didn't it force them to re-read the Old Testament scriptures with Christ and His eschatological body, the church, as the “goal” (cf. Rom. 8:4; 10:4; Gal. 3:24,25). After the resurrection of our Lord, it wasn't only that the disciples didn't read the Old Testament the same anymore or hear Jesus' claims the same way anymore – it was that they couldn't read or hear the same way anymore! The resurrection “changed” things – it did! Well, it changed things; it “fulfilled” things! And, I think that that includes Jesus' identity.

After the resurrection, the whole scheme of redemption was complete. Jesus' identity was then out in the open. Today, His identity evades a number, but to those who have the ears to hear and eyes to see, they will see that His identity is openly revealed, and instead of being told to “keep a secret,” we are being told “go and tell” (Mark 16:7). Jesus wasn't “hiding” Himself; He was strategically “revealing” Himself . . . and there is a difference between the two.